Man pleads no contest to stabbing dog, hurting deputy

A man pleaded no contest to killing a friend’s dog and hurting a deputy in court Wednesday.

Officials in Flagler County said 25-year-old Sahmi Green stabbed the animal to death last year.

"I just wanted to say I'm sorry about how things played out," said Green. "I wish I could have done things differently, but I was off my medicine."

He also faced charges of battery against a deputy.

A judge sentenced him to 13 years of probation in the dog’s death and two years in prison for the battery.

Prosecutors asked for much more prison time, but a judge believed defense evidence that Green was off his medications for severe schizophrenia and post traumatic stress disorder. Green said he was physically, sexually and mentally abused by family as a child, and that he hears voices off that led him to kill an animal.

What Green allegedly told a deputy after his arrest about repeatedly stabbing the dog, said prosecutor Richard Price, proves prison should be the penalty.

"He had killed his dog this Sunday and his neighbor's dog last Sunday and that he was practicing on how to stab someone," said Price. "And that he wanted to commit mass murder."

The stabbed pit bull, named Destiny, is buried in the back yard. Her owners, Samantha Lilly, and her boyfriend, Karl Brown, were stunned that their pet was killed at the hands of a so-called friend.

The dog's owners said Destiny was not aggressive and that the stabbing was not provoked.

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